"The lost boys of privilege": Triangulation and the End of History in Ben Lerner's The Topeka School.
In Ben Lerner's 2019 novel The Topeka School, which is largely set in 1990s Kansas, the aggressive demeanor of protagonist Adam Gordon, a champion high school debater, closely resembles the confrontational style of Newt Gingrich. Yet Adam also draws on Clinton's strategy of triangulation in an attem...
| Published in: | Journal of Modern Literature Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 146 - 164 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Indiana University Press
Winter2024
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=176213614&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 176213614 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0022281X JML jtl: Journal of Modern Literature issn: 0022281X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Winter2024 vid: 47 iid: 2 pid: 211 pub: Indiana University Press artinfo: ui: 176213614 10.2979/jml.00024 ppf: 146 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 868KB tig: atl: "The lost boys of privilege": Triangulation and the End of History in Ben Lerner's The Topeka School. aug: au: Lawrie, Alexandra affil: University of Edinburgh su: Topeka School, The (Book) Lerner, Ben, 1979- Gordon, Adam Protagonists (Persons) Masculinity sug: subj: Topeka School, The (Book) Lerner, Ben, 1979- Gordon, Adam Protagonists (Persons) Masculinity keyword: 1990s Ben Lerner Bill Clinton masculinity Newt Gingrich The Topeka School ab: In Ben Lerner's 2019 novel The Topeka School, which is largely set in 1990s Kansas, the aggressive demeanor of protagonist Adam Gordon, a champion high school debater, closely resembles the confrontational style of Newt Gingrich. Yet Adam also draws on Clinton's strategy of triangulation in an attempt to synthesize two sides of his personality: the hypermasculine front he presents to his friends, and the sensitive pro-feminist harboring poetic ambitions. Lerner applies geopolitical terminology drawn from the recently ended nuclear threat and from the "end of history" concept, to the descriptions of violence and anomie among the novel's teenage boys; this further underlines Adam's internal conflict regarding his masculinity. Adam eventually grows disillusioned with these hypermasculine norms, and when he reflects back on this period two decades later, he draws some stark parallels between the combative political tactics of 1990s Republicans, which his teenage friends had sought to emulate, and the licensing of extreme behaviors under Trump's presidency. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Journal of Modern Literature is the property of Indiana University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Journal of Modern Literature holder: Indiana University Press dt: @attributes: year: 2024 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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